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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25094482">Calming Influence</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunaddicted/pseuds/sunaddicted'>sunaddicted</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>007 Games Fics 2k20 [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>James Bond (Craig movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Banter, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Funny, Gen, James is a Dork, M/M, Post-Skyfall, Random &amp; Short</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:35:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>918</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25094482</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunaddicted/pseuds/sunaddicted</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“You have a temper”</p><p>“Don’t sound so shocked”</p><p>“Well, I can’t help being surprised”</p><p>“Because I never murdered you for feeding the gun I slaved on to a Komodo dragon?”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James Bond &amp; Q, Q/Raoul Silva | Tiago Rodriguez</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>007 Games Fics 2k20 [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1794529</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>007 Fest Fancreations</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Calming Influence</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Prompt 62 from the Anonymous Prompt Exchange (2020): "Would you believe me if I said he is a calming influence?" (can, but doesn't have to be 00Q)</p><p>It most definetly isn't 00Q.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Calming Influence</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>James didn’t think he could be blamed for being suspicious of the way Raoul Silva buzzed around Q-Branch, flitting to computer to desk seemingly without any kind of supervision going on; it made something visceral inside of him twist and turn with the memory of the glass doors of MI6 effortlessly sliding open, as if they had been made for allowing an easy passage rather than restricting it - and all had been done remotely, from an apparently useless and damaged laptop. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t want to know how much more damage the blonde could do if he ever got his fingertips on one of their computers keyboards, the little taste of hacking the man had given him while he had been tied up in his island-lair had been more than enough to make him healthily concerned of Silva’s capabilities: Q was good, undeniably so, but James had a feeling that the former Double-Oh was even better; he wasn’t an expert, he knew only basic hacking, but natural talent was only part of it - experience mattered and it was evident that Raoul Silva had had a lot of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unrestrained too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How are you so nonchalant about the fact he’s roaming around as if he’s not a threat to national security?” James asked Q under the guise of getting the boffin a fresh cup of tea; nobody ever would find that suspicious, it was a well-known fact that the Quartermaster required a steady supply of tea throughout the day in order to function - he wasn’t sure about whether it was just a legend that had become fact or Q really was that dependent on caffeine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Would you believe me if I said he is a calming influence?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, he is”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>James frowned, his eyes zapping from Q to Silva - still unnervingly too close for comfort to a computer that was hooked into the mainframe, if all the cables dangling from it were anything to go by - and back to the younger man, peacefully sipping from his mug, whole body relaxed against the edge of the desk he was leaning on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was kind of infuriating: here he was, worrying and vigilating like one was supposed to when a terrorist and murderer was in the room, and nobody seemed to give a shit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How so?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Q shrugged “He keeps my temper in check” and whenever he hit a bug in his coding or a snag in his reasoning, it was refreshing and soothing being able to talk it out with someone who actually could follow him; R was good and talented but she just wasn’t at the same level, she couldn’t understand him as effortlessly as Silva did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To be honest, Q was a little enamoured with the man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He knew it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span>, one just didn’t go and sprout a crush for a criminal mastermind that innumerable international agencies wanted to put their hands on so that they could permanently do away with him - but Q had always had a thing for smart and dangerous men who could make him sweat with a frisson of genuine fear; it wasn’t a part of his psyche he necessarily wanted to explore, he didn't really care about </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span> he was attracted to the likes of Silva.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have a temper”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t sound so shocked”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I can’t help being surprised”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I never murdered you for feeding the gun I slaved on to a Komodo dragon?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Q was never going to let him live that down and James couldn’t really blame him for it: it hadn’t been his most thought out move, if he was honest with himself “Among other things” he conceded with a small nod, the corner of his eye constantly trained on Silva; every movement of the man made him tense, body getting ready for a fight seemingly out of its own volition - his reflexes acquired over years and years on the field came to life without James needing any kind of conscious effort on his part.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Meditation works wonders, you should try it”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If meditation works so well, why do you need that bastard around then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe I don’t mind the eye candy”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>James didn’t splutter - he just </span>
  <em>
    <span>did not</span>
  </em>
  <span>. The noise that left his throat was… something that could go undescribed for the sake of his dignity “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Eye candy</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re sounding a little hysteric”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s Raoul Silva”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He blew up the old headquarters, almost killed me and killed M”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, shuck the holier than thou attitude: it’s not like you’ve never fucked someone who was on the other side of the chessboard, to put it metaphorically”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve fucked him?!” James hissed, crowding closer to Q in the hopes that feeling a little threatened would make the younger man change his version and say that he had just been joking, purposefully riling him up in an attempt at getting back at him for all the wasted and destroyed equipment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He would even admit he deserved it, if that ended up being the truth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bond-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Q”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Why did he never manage to keep his fucking mouth shut? The younger man stepped even closer, not wanting anyone to accidentally hear the conversation they were having; Q could already feel the blood rising to grace the tip of his ears and the apples of his cheeks, the telltale betrayal operated by his own body “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes</span>
  </em>
  <span> - and you’ll keep your mouth shut about it if you ever want to go back out in the field with a functioning gun”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>In case you couldn't tell, I suck at writing crack - any constructive criticism is appreciated!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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